San Diego County, San Diego Rat Control Situation:
Hi David, Is a UV blacklight still useful, exterior-wise, if it rains after the rodents leave their urine stains? I am in the process of performing exterior maintenance to better exclude my roof rats. 1) I have a 25 year old cedar shake roof in San Diego California with openings under each shake along the rake edge of the roof at the gable ends of my house. There's no drip edge, i.e. under the shakes I have roofing paper (now somewhat curled) that runs more or less up to and rests right atop the fascia board. Because I have skip sheathing, and since the cross section of a shake is a wedge that is up to one inch at the upper, thick end, this appears to create many huge entry points along the rake edges even though the sheathing is rabbeted into the fascia board. As a result, I'm thinking of getting a UV blacklight to use outside the house to sleuth for urine stains along the upper edge of the gable end shakes and fascia boards. My question is, how easily does the winter rain wash away the urine, rendering this a pointless exercise? 2) I noticed a new product called "rat-out gel" and was thinking of applying it along the rake edges mentioned above. Or, maybe I should just buy many rolls of X-Clude and use that instead. Or maybe both. Any comment? Thanks very much for your website, Doug
My response: First off, I do not have experience using UV lights to detect rat urine. But I do suspect that rain will severely limit the effectiveness of this approach. I have never heard of Rat-Out Gel or XClude, but I typically stick to physical barriers rather than repellent type devices. If your roof makes this impossible, you might have a tough time keeping the rats out.
San Diego Rat Control Tip of The Week
The Reasons Why So Many Rats Live In Big Cities
Since ancient times, rodents have noticed how humans have created comfortable dwellings that in turn often house large amounts of food. The invasion of people's homes and privacy by rats is due to their constant search for shelter and food.
Rats can chase man wherever he goes, in order to continue to benefit. These animals can have a great capacity to adapt to the different environments humans live in. The rodent's diet consists of anything and to get it they can gnaw, climb, jump, run, and even swim.
A Big City To Share
With the settlement of large cities, human beings have grown in population and their consequences on the planet too. The environmental pollution of large cities represents a serious danger caused by people themselves. However, for rats, it has represented the peak of their population growth rate.
Human beings transporting themselves from one place to another, wherever they go, will take the rats along with them, having to share their cities. These animals have become pests to many people because it is exactly in the habitats of humans that they find the perfect conditions to live comfortably.
The More Garbage, The More Rats
Rodents can be phobic animals, that is, they fear new places and prefer to move through the same paths their whole lives. The exploratory and inquisitive instinct that characterizes rats is due to their need to survive in the absence of shelter. Rodents consume one-fifth of the world's food supply each year. The garbage dumps in big cities, day after day, are filled with new food remnants that provides rats with everything they need to survive.
Today, it's very likely that you'll come across a rat in any city in the world. However, people take care of their homes by being advised by professionals who teach them ways to combat this urban pest.
